Traditions

I think traditions are important. Why? Because they identify us as part of a group. We all have a need to belong, to be cherished for who we are and to remain a part of something bigger than ourselves. That is what healthy traditions do for our family. Christmas season is loaded with traditions that unite our family.

I recently overheard my children discussing the things that make Christmas special to them. We celebrate Christ birth with some special traditions that identify us as a family unit. They take comfort in these simple acts. I think they will be more important than ever this year as we face the season unemployed and uncertain of the future as a family.

One of the things we do every year that they look forward to is getting a new ornament. Each year I give each of my children an ornament with the idea that they will have a unique set of ornaments when they leave our home. I usually buy them at after Christmas sales so I have had them for an entire year before I give them out. Sometimes I make them. Three years ago we boxed up Kelleigh's ornaments and now they decorate her family's tree. Each year the ornaments evoke a different memory as it is unwrapped and hung on the tree. Like the Redskins keepsake ornaments that they got for their first Christmas in Dallas territory. Can't have them forgetting their roots or their team loyalty.

Christmas 2009


 

Another special tradition for them is matching Christmas pajamas.  I confess this is one tradition that I am beginning to wonder about. My parents did it with us, but they had 7 girls and somehow I think it must have been easier for them. In the beginning it seemed easy enough but the more children we had and the older they got the harder it became to find matching p.j.s. Especially since half of my children are adults now. I have had to resort to matching color schemes or matching themes. I asked them if maybe they were ready to end this one, but they said Christmas wouldn't be the same without it, and they expect to continue it with their families.  I admit I love looking back at Christmas past and seeing them in the matching attire.

Every Christmas Eve we bake together, attend church together and gather in our matching pajamas to listen to Dad read the Christmas story from Luke. Each Christmas morning we gather together and pray before heading out to see who got what from whom. But no matter where we are or who we are with the simple fact remains that Christmas isn't about us and it isn't even about family or family traditions. It is about how the creator of the universe humbled himself to take on the form of a babe and enter the world in the lowliest of circumstances to rescue you and me. So where ever this particular Christmas finds you, may your focus be on that fact and your response come from a desire to know more of Him.